Monday, October 15, 2007

First Lesson - Sugar

I got to class after a very long day where I used almost every possible land vehicle (bus, train, car, taxi, train, bus, car etc etc)... Had to go up north to the northern boarder of Israel with my work and then was in a hurry to make it to class. It was worth it!!! I thought I'd be too tired and that my attention span won't be so good, but I was proven wrong. We are 12 in class, 11 women and one men, a rather weird ratio but quite obvious too. We set in a huge kitchen full of appliances, mixers, scales, ovens etc. The way you would expect a professional bakery to look like. All the ingredients and tools were at their places ready to be picked up. Order is the name of the game in this school! We received our uniform (the same uniform chefs normally wear... COOOWELL) and we were told to come with comfortable close none slippery shoes, and hair cover. Since it was the first class, we had a theoretical lesson about sugar. Beside all the very important chemical facts that lay behind sugar, I also learnt that sugar was first produced in India from sugar cane, therefore the root for the word Sugar is Sanskrit. The British were the main merchants with the far east and so they were the one who imported sugars to Europe. However, during Napoleon's rein the naval route to India was prohibited to the British and sugar was scars in Europe. The only Europeans who were able to grow and produce sugar from sugar cane were the Sicilians. Hence all the sweets and goodies which are typical to this area. In 1862 two French scientists answered to Napoleon's challenge and managed to produce sugar from beetroot, which until then was animals' food only.Well this is the little history we've learnt about sugar. I love these anecdotes!!!

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About Me

Want to share some of the Israeli cuisine with the world.Started cooking when I was 8. My favorite books are naturally cook books, I adore professional chefs and not rock stars. Finished my MA in Translation Studies. Now taining in one of Israel leading culinary schools to become a pastry chef. I love traveling, meeting new people, languages and food.